Northshore School District enacts student cell phone policy

The Northshore School District has implemented its new cell phone policy for the 2025-26 school year, aiming to reduce distractions and address behavioral concerns such as cyberbullying and student altercations.

Under the new policy, personal mobile devices—including smartphones and smartwatches—are prohibited in early childhood programs, elementary, and middle schools. Students in those grades are expected to leave their devices at home or keep them turned off and stored throughout the entire school day if brought to school.

High school students are able to use their devices before and after school, between classes, and at lunch. However, cell phone use is not allowed during class time.

“Technology has undoubtedly changed and will continue to change how we communicate, engage, and participate in everyday life, including in schools,” the district said in a post on its website in June. “It has created many opportunities, as well as challenges for parents, educators, and students as we navigate our new world.”

Some schools within the district have already started restricting cell phone use, the post stated.

Those schools “are seeing positive classroom changes such as increased focus, attention, comprehension, engagement, and improved academic performance,” the post read. “Additionally, teachers and staff report enhanced face-to-face peer interactions, reduced cyberbullying, fewer fights, and a decrease in social media-related issues. Students are also experiencing less stress and anxiety.”

Cell phone policies throughout Washington schools

In January 2024, a bill was introduced in Olympia that would ban Washington students from using phones during the school day.

Before the bill was announced, some Washington public school districts had already executed a phone ban, including the Peninsula School District (PSD) in Gig Harbor. Within the Reardan-Edwall School District in Eastern Washington, which banned phone use in 2023, students are only allowed to use phones during lunchtime and breaks from class.

In June 2024, Seattle’s Hamilton International Middle School announced a new policy, requiring students to place their phones in a locked pouch. They would still be able to hold onto their devices, but they wouldn’t be accessible until the end of the school day.

The school already had a cell phone policy in place called “away for the day,” meaning cell phones should not be visible or used at school, but was having trouble enforcing it.

Some parents were against the idea of the students needing to lock their phones away for the day, saying they won’t be able to get in touch with their kids during an emergency.

However, of the schools with a policy in place, 61% reported that their community is satisfied with the new approach, according to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

This story was originally published on June 17, 2025. It has been updated and republished since then.

Contributing: Frank Lenzi, KIRO Newsradio; Frank Sumrall and Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

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